Umbrellas have long been a common method of providing relief from various environmental discomforts. In warm climates, large umbrellas are used to provide shade and relief from strong sunlight, in order to provide a user with a more comfortable, cool environment as well as protection from sunburn and the like. Perhaps more commonly, small extendable personal umbrellas enjoy widespread use as a simple and effective means of providing individuals with a degree of protection from precipitation while outdoors. Umbrellas are well suited for keeping a user dry during rainfall, snowfall, and other similar conditions.
The effectiveness of such umbrellas is predicated upon their highly localized area of protection and the ability of a user to stabilize the umbrella in a desired position within his or her immediate area. While this allows umbrellas to provide a user with simple and effective protection, it also entails certain problems and discomfitures. In particular, the small radius of common umbrellas, their handheld design, the fact that they may need to be adjusted due to the angle of the rain, and other similar concerns require a certain minimum expenditure of mental and physical effort on the part of the user. This results in a user having to use at least one (1) hand to properly secure and place the umbrella while simultaneously concentrating on maintaining the umbrella in the proper position. As a result, the user is hampered in many other common activities which may be undertaken while walking the outdoors, such as carrying other items.
Various attempts have been made to provide an umbrella which provides the user with enhanced comfort and simpler use as compared to a common personal umbrella as well as other means of carrying common objects in a hands-free manner. Examples of these attempts can be seen by reference to several U.S. patents. U.S. Pat. No. 5,409,291, issued in the name of Lamb et al., describes combined chair and backpack. The Lamb device is a portable chair which is collapsible into a backpack-type configuration to allow a user to transport the device in a hands-free manner.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,076,539, issued in the name of Richardson, describes an adjustable shield for a backpack. The Richardson device comprises a large hinged canopy-type shield attached to a backpack which may be positioned in an upward position in order to provide a user with cover for his or her head.
Additionally, ornamental designs for a hands-free umbrella exist, particularly U.S. Pat. Nos. D 330,455. However, none of these designs are similar to the present invention.
While these devices fulfill their respective, particular objectives, each of these references suffer from one (1) or more of the aforementioned disadvantages. Many such devices do not provide sufficient stability and customizable positioning for an umbrella. Also, many such devices do not provide an umbrella which is fully collapsible and storable in an unobtrusive manner. In addition, many such devices which incorporate backpacks do not provide full, unencumbered functionality of the backpack in a manner which also allows the user to integrally store an umbrella. Furthermore, many such devices do not allow a user to manipulate or deploy the umbrella in a simple manner while the umbrella is in its desired position. Accordingly, there exists a need for a hands-free umbrella without the disadvantages as described above. The development of the present invention substantially departs from the conventional solutions and in doing so fulfills this need.